"Common Times" Weekly Newsletter 1/16-1/21

Upcoming Events

Happy New Year Wildcat Band Family,

We had a fantastic full week of classes! I am continually impressed with how well the students work during class to improve each and every day. This week we will kick off our final fundraiser of the year. Please be asking your students, beginning Wednesday, for more information. Funds raises from this can go towards: band supply fees, school instrument rental fee, percussion usage fee, spring tip fee or tie over until next school year for band related expenses.

8th Grade band and Jazz Band, please remember to be making your spring trip payments. We have 2 partial trips and 2 full trips paid. The cost per student is $330. We have one more fundraiser to roll out in a couple of weeks to help families raise funds to off set their cost. Please let me know how I can help your family. Since we are competing we need all of our students in the 8th grade band and jazz band there to be successful. Not to mention, just to get to have a lot of fun with friends the week after state testing! :)

7th and 8th grade band members, please be sure you have turned in your band supply fee and paid your instrument rental fee if you play bassoon, oboe, french horn, euphonium, tuba or percussion. These supply fees are used to purchase the books, binders and shirts you have already received. The instrument usage fee helps us to offset the cost to have the instrument professionally cleaned and maintained each year. The cost of rental is $100/year. The average cost to clean and maintain our instruments is $125/year. We have funds set aside to help families who are in need of financial assistance but are not able to cover the cost for everyone. We currently have less than 25% of students who have turned in their fees either through cash/check or Bentonville's My Payments Plus system. If you need to know if you have paid, please email me and I'll get back with you. If you have fundraising profits, those will be applied towards supply and instrument fees first. Thank you for your help!

For our 7th grade band students, I have been able to finalize the dates for our early week of Summer Band now that the school board has adopted the 23/34 calendar. We will have sectionals and rehearsals August 7th-11th as can be seen below. Please plan summer activities accordingly as we will use this time to learn all of our pep music for the school year.

On January 26th we are partnering with Saied Music to provide an opportunity for our students to step up to an intermediate or professional model instrument, head joint, barrel, or mouthpiece at discounted rates. More information coming on this soon!!

Please take a few moment to review the information below so you are fully prepared for the week ahead.

This week:

• Monday - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• Tuesday - B Day (Classes 6-8 and Priority)

• Open band during Priority Time

• Band Room closes at 4:00pm

• Wednesday - A Day (Classes 1-4 and Priority)

• Flute sectional during priority time with Mrs. Richardson

• Band Room closes at 4:00pm

• Thursday - B Day (Classes 5-8 and Priority)

• Open band during Priority Time

• Band Room Closes at 4

• Friday - B Day (Classes 5-8 and Engagement Friday)

• Jazz Band Clinic at BHS. Students will take 1st lunch, eat quickly and load the bus. Permission slip and itinerary handed out last Tuesday.

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Current 7th Grade Band Members	Current 8th Grade Band Members
Times will be determined once speaking with XC, Cheer, Dance, Volleyball and Football Coaches so that there aren't any conflicts. Typically, these are 12:30-3:30. For those planning to attend Camp War Eagle, please plan to do one of the early sessions.	July 17th - Expected Beginning of Daily Summer Pride Band Rehearsals (only for those who are in the BHS Pride Marching Band or Color Guard. (Could change depending on start of school dates yet to be released.)
​August 7th- Low Brass and Low Reeds Sectional (Bass Clarinets, Saxophone, French Horns, Trombones, Euphoniums and Tubas)	For full calendar, please see www.bentonvillepride.com
August 8th - High Woodwinds and High Brass Sectional (Flutes, Clarinets and Trumpets)
August 9th - Percussion Sectional
August 10th - Full Band Rehearsal
August 11th - Full Band Rehearsal

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You can find a complete copy of this year's calendar of events here.

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PRIVATE LESSONS ARE AWESOME! They are designed to be fun, engaging, supportive and focused on the individual student.

We have an awesome partnership with Arkansas Music Conservatory where your student can take a lesson or two on US to see what private lessons can do for your band student! We have set aside $1150 for lessons this year. We can also help pay for additional lessons and offset the cost of lessons for families who need financial assistance in this area.

Who should take private lessons:

• Advanced students who need to be pushed and challenged

• Students who need some 1-on-1 assistance to learn and master concepts covered in class

• Students who missed substantial class time due to illness

• Students who just began playing this year

• Students who want to get better

• EVERYONE

To sign up for a free lesson:

• Contact Mr. Jones so he can track who is taking the exploratory lessons

• Contact Arkansas Music Conservatory to setup a lesson 479-268-3307 (call) or 479-430-2226 (text)

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To stay in the know be sure to follow us on your social media platform of choice: Facebook or Instagram - @wjhswildcatband and/or at www.wjhswildcatband.com

If you have any questions or concerns, please never hesitate to reach out. We are partners in your student's growth and need to work together for them to be as successful as possible.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Musically Yours,